‘God does not see us as disabled … He sees us as we are’

By NADIA POZO
CS&T Staff Writer

The annual Eucharistic Liturgy that celebrates welcome and access for people of all levels of mental and physical ability was a particularly moving experience for Sister Susan Therese of the Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth, who attended this year with her friend, Bernadette Genuardi.

Genuardi has served as a CCD teaching assistant for more than 20 years at Visitation B.V.M Parish in Trooper. Being legally blind and having Down’s syndrome has not stopped her from serving her parish.

The two women joined hundreds of people at the Mass on Sunday, April 30, at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.

“I was deeply moved by the participation of all the people, and saw their need to … participate,” Sister Susan Therese said of the many people in wheelchairs, and the many children with various disabilities who took part in the Mass joyfully, — from offering a dance prelude to reading the Prayer of the Faithful. “It’s a beautiful testimony to [the fact that] no matter what the ability, everyone has the ability to praise God and thank God,” Sister Susan Therese added.

The celebration began with a dance presentation performed by The HMS School & The Fusion 2 Dance Company, a troupe of special-needs children assisted by their care-takers.

The pre-entrance procession included students from St. Katherine Day School, Our Lady of Confidence Day School, the St. Edmond Home for Children and the Don Guanella School, along with members of the Community Outreach Program of Catholic Social Service and the Woodhaven Center.

The Mass was celebrated by Bishop Robert Maginnis, who oversees the Secretariat for Evangelization, which includes the Department for Pastoral Care for Persons with Disabilities and the Deaf Apostolate.

Father William Dean, parochial vicar of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in South Philadelphia, gave the homily. Father Dean has been progressively losing his eyesight because of a genetic disease known as Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and now gets around with a seeing-eye dog named Spencer. He was diagnosed with RP when he was 33 years old.

“It’s slowly watching yourself go blind, and that’s a very difficult thing to do,” Father Dean said.

Nonetheless, in embracing his disability, Father Dean said, he has learned that “the virtue people with disabilities have is wisdom — wisdom in knowing that we belong to God. That’s a grace. We have to share it.”

Father Dean highlighted that point in his homily, when he challenged those in the congregation — with or without disabilities — to be authentic witnesses to the resurrection of Christ, and to impart the peace given by Christ to others. He noted that people with disabilities have a unique ability to be such witnesses, because they have people’s attention in a way others do not have it.

Having such wisdom is humbling, he said: “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but to think of yourself less. God does not see us as disabled. He sees us as we are.

“God is close to us,” Father Dean added. “He has embraced us in His peace, wisdom and humility. We are called to be witnesses of His resurrection. He is doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. …

“We show that we belong to God by how we love — that goes for disabled or abled bodies,” Father Dean said.

“I was inspired by Father’s courage,” said Jacqui DiGregorio, a psychiatric nurse manager. “The Mass was really beautiful. To look around at the care-takers, and see the patience and love they show, is overwhelming. It’s a shame that more people without disabilities aren’t here.”

Several Catholic high school students assisted in accommodating individuals with differing abilities at this year’s Mass. The teenagers were trained, prior to the Liturgy, on issues related to disabilities, particularly the proper etiquette for assisting people with physical, sensory, behavioral and developmental needs. 

Carl Thompson, a junior at Roman Catholic High School for Boys, was there with several of his classmates, passing out programs and escorting people to and from the Cathedral.

He wanted to be a part of the Mass to be in solidarity with his cousin who has autism, Thompson said.

“I’ve learned that everyone deserves to go to Mass, and no one should be excluded,” he said, and he seemed more than happy to make that possible, in whatever small ways he could.

CS&T staff writer Nadia Pozo can be reached at npozo@adphila.org or (215) 965-4614.